06KYIV4432, UKRAINE: ADDITIONAL MANPADS AND SCUDS INVENTORY:

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S E C R E T KYIV 004432
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT ALSO FOR ISN, PM/WRA, EUR/UMB, AND EUR/PRA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2016
TAGS: MARRMOPSPRELPARMNATOPINRUSUP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: ADDITIONAL MANPADS AND SCUDS INVENTORY:
STATUS UPDATE
REF: A. COSTNER/UYEHARA 11/10/06 E-MAIL
¶B. KIEV 3300
¶C. STATE 134827
¶D. KIEV 3021
¶E. KIEV 2886
¶F. KIEV 2477
¶G. KIEV 2452
¶H. STATE 99428
Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,c,d)
¶1. (S) Summary: Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr
Tereshchenko told us November 22 that Ukraine would be
willing to provide an additional 1,713 MANPADS, a mix of
SA-7s and SA-14s, for destruction in the NATO PfP Trust Fund
project. An official notification of this offer was under
preparation and would be ready soon. Saying that Ukraine
remained committed eventually to destroy all excess MANPADS,
Tereshchenko appealed to us not to reduce the USG offer to
provide an additional 5 million USD to the NATO PfP Trust
Fund for destruction of large-caliber munitions. He
recommended that the U.S. send an additional letter
containing only the request for MANPADS to develop
countermeasures, since this should be a separate track and
involved different officials and offices in the Ministry of
Defense and military General Staff. Tereshchenko said his
office's proposal to remove SCUD missiles from the active
inventory had been accepted and a directive to do so was
under preparation. This process would take 1-2 months, after
which Ukraine could provide the U.S. with a SCUD inventory.
End summary.
¶2. (S) We followed up November 22 in a meeting with Deputy
Defense Minister Volodymyr Tereshchenko on the status of USG
requests for a SCUDS inventory (ref H) and the response to
U/S Joseph's request for additional man-portable air defense
systems (MANPADS) for countermeasures development and for
destruction in the NATO PfP Trust Fund project (ref C).
Colonel Oleg Kapshtyk, Chief of the Ministry of Defense (MOD)
Military-Technical Cooperation Directorate, and Anatoly
Korchagin, deputy for missile disposal in the MOD Missile and
Munitions Disposal Directorate, joined Tereshchenko. We
reiterated that our MANPADS proposal remained a USG priority
and that we were looking forward to organizing future
discussions with senior-level colleagues from Washington.
MANPADS
-------
¶3. (U) Tereshchenko stressed that the Ukrainian government
remains committed to destruction of excess weapons and
munitions and the MOD leadership places a high priority on
supporting the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) Trust Fund
project to eliminate excess and obsolete MANPADS, small arms
and light weapons (SA/LW) and munitions. MOD officials
appreciate the lead nation role that the U.S. provides to the
NATO PfP Trust Fund project. In order to ensure smooth
implementation of the project, Tereshchenko was personally
meeting weekly with NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency
(NAMSA) project manager (for the Trust Fund project) Steve
Brown. The Trust Fund had completed destruction of its
target 1,000 MANPADS and arrangements were moving forward on
SA/LW and munitions, as agreed.
¶4. (SBU) Tereshchenko welcomed the USG offer to provide an
additional USD 5 million for large-caliber munitions
destruction if an additional 10,000 MANPADS were destroyed.
In order to provide the correct response to the proposal, the
MOD had reviewed the current status of its MANPADS stockpile
to determine how many more might be eliminated. The military
Chief of Staff and General Staff had primary responsibility
for combat capability and readiness, so Tereshchenko's office
had held several meetings with their uniformed counterparts
to develop a common position responding to the U.S. request.
Tereshchenko showed us a working document from the General
Staff to follow on the preliminary information that he had
earlier provided to Brown. He would forward the information
formally over his signature as soon as the numbers were
finalized.
¶5. (C) The working document, Tereshchenko continued,
specified that Ukraine would provide a total of 1,713 MANPADS
and 582 gripstocks. The MANPADS would consist of a
combination of SA-7s, or the Strela 2M in the Ukrainian
nomenclature, and the SA-14, or Strela-3. The numbers might
change slightly when the General Staff officially transmits
the information to his office, Tereshchenko noted. This
offer did not mean that Ukraine would not offer more in the
future, but he and his colleagues believed this was the
appropriate number to offer now. When we asked about the
reduction from the 2,000 MANPADS that Tereshchenko had
informed Brown would be provided, Tereshchenko explained the
General Staff had t
old him that they were prepared to offer
"about 2,000" and, in the General Staff's view, the 1,713
figure was evidently still "about 2,000."
¶6. (SBU) Tereshchenko repeated that Ukraine would be prepared
to take another step toward our request for additional excess
MANPADS in the future, since Ukraine wished to work toward
disposal of all excess weapons and munitions. He asked that
the U.S. understand the Ukrainian government's sincere
intentions in this regard and not reduce the USD 5 million
offer of additional funding for the NATO PfP Trust Fund.
Disposal of large-caliber munitions was also an important
Trust Fund goal.
¶7. (S) In response to our question, Tereshchenko said use of
MANPADS for countermeasures development was an entirely
different issue from MANPADS for destruction so "apples
needed to be separated from oranges." His office worked with
the military General Staff on destruction of MANPADS, but
MANPADS use for countermeasures development involved entirely
different offices. Tereshchenko recommended the U.S. send a
letter that contained only a proposal on MANPADS
countermeasures so that a separate mechanism could be
developed for joint work toward countermeasures development.
¶8. (S) Also in response to our question, Tereshchenko said he
did not know the precise number of MANPADS that Ukraine
possessed. Rather than providing incorrect information, he
would just say that he knows that the total stock is "more
than 10,000."
SCUD Inventory
--------------
¶9. (C) Tereshchenko said Ukrainian cooperation with the U.S.
to destroy SCUD missiles had been raised originally when
Viktor Yanukovych was prime minister the first time; now that
Yanukovych was prime minister again, Tereshchenko did not
want to fail to follow through on the Ukrainian commitment.
SCUD missiles, however, while perhaps obsolete, were still in
the active inventory. His office had proposed to the MOD
leadership that the systems be decommissioned so the
information regarding the number of SCUD missiles and their
location could be declassified. His MOD higher-ups had
agreed to the proposal and the appropriate directive was
being staffed. This process would take about several months.
Once this was done, he would be able to provide a SCUD
inventory to the U.S.
¶10. (C) At the end, Tereshchenko said Missile and Munitions
Disposal Department deputy director Volodymyr Popovich, while
an experienced and valuable official, had been expressing his
personal views during his earlier meeting with us.
Tereshchenko apologized if his remarks had caused any
misunderstandings.
¶11. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor

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